Issue 11-14-2016

AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods Market Inc. announced on November 2 that cofounder John Mackey will take the helm as sole chief executive officer, ending a six-year experiment with a dual-CEO structure. The announcement came as Whole Foods reported its first annual decline in comparable-store sales since 2009. As part of the streamlining, Walter Robb

SEATTLE — A top Amazon.com Inc. executive has characterized reports that the company will open brick-and-mortar food stores as “rumors and ­speculation.” But chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said consumables were an integral Amazon offering, and that it was looking at new methods of getting products to consumers. Olsavsky acknowledged during an earnings conference call

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal­mart president and chief executive officer Doug McMillon has outlined a road map intended to steer the company’s role on issues critical to society over the next several years. The road map points to “a new era of trust and transparency,” McMillon commented early this month in a presentation at the Net

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. senior vice president of grocery merchandising Anne Dament will be leaving the company on November 18 after a year and half in that role, Target announced earlier this month. Dament was hired in April 2015 from Safeway Inc. to oversee the food business as one of the first major hires by

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway Inc. has purchased seven stores, including five in the San Francisco Bay Area from Andronico’s Community Markets. The other two are G&G Market stores in Petaluma and Santa Rosa, Calif. Renovo Capital, which acquired Andronico’s out of bankruptcy in 2011, approached Safeway this year about purchasing the stores in Berkeley, Los

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Last month the Triad region in the north-central area of North Carolina rediscovered The Fresh Market when the company revealed its new look and enhanced shopping experience at three locations, two in Greensboro and one in Winston-Salem. Following the Triad launch, The Fresh Market activated plans to roll out other refreshed stores

PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle Inc. is cutting 350 jobs at its headquarters here. The move is described as part of a larger cost-cutting move at the supermarket operator, which generates about $9.7 billion in annual sales and has more than 420 retail locations in western Pennsylvania, north-central Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. The

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Raley’s recently announced that it plans to test a new natural foods supermarket concept in downtown Sacramento. The 11,000-square-foot store will feature a curated selection of product designed to encourage wholesome eating, according to the company, with an emphasis on products that are minimally processed, organic (when available), sustainably sourced and free

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer Inc. announced that shoppers of all sizes will soon be able to browse the same clothing racks at all 230 of its stores across the Midwest. The integration is expected to be complete by early next year, bringing together everything from missy size small to plus 3X. Meijer pointed out

NORWALK, Conn. — Competition among retailers for the top spot on this year’s PoweRanking list was closer than ever before, according to Kantar Retail, which said that Walmart and Kroger Co. finished in a virtual tie for first place. The 2016 edition of Kantar’s PoweRanking list showed PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Co. as the leaders among

Karen Fondu is retiring. Those industry people not fortunate enough to have known and worked with her these many years may not realize just how that is a loss not easily recompensed. For she has been, for 37 years, one of the most remarkable people the mass retailing community has produced, and one of the